I always feel terribly excited when I see the first fall of snow. I don’t know whether the excitement is rooted in childhood memories of sledging and snowmen or whether it’s just how different the world looks – there’s often something good about different. Either way, this was the sight I woke up to this morning.
As we’re spending the festive period in Vienna, I’m the advance shopping party, so that when MisterMac arrives at the weekend, he can just slide into his slippers and Christmas. The duck’s been ordered, the wine cellar is full of some delicious discoveries we found on our Burgenland adventures in the summer, I have a brand new tube of Pringles and a cupboard full of things covered in or made out of marzipan. This is a festive tactic, and one that has served me well over the years. I don’t like marzipan, ergo anything marzipanesque is automatically deemed to belong to MisterMac who’s a bit of a fan. On production of a marzipan confection, I am forgiven almost anything. So if I forget the sprouts and the tatties, who cares?
With Christmas therefore sorted, I have time to catch up on some work, which I’ll clear this afternoon, some non-essential reading and some crappy telly. I was hoping to get a last minute ticket for Rossini’s Barber of Seville this evening, but there’s even a waiting list for the waiting list, so that’s not looking good. However, it does provide the excuse for today’s track. I could have chosen Largo al Factotum, but decided instead to add the duet Dunque io son to the playlist. The video version features the same voices as the record in my collection – Maria Callas and Tito Gobbi. And for those seeking something a tad lighter, here’s a version of the overture used in Rabbits of Seville, a short film starring everyone’s favourite bunny. The green frame is mildly irritating, but I assume that’s to avoid copyright problems.